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Charleston-AP
Tent caterpillars are crawling out of their tree nests in prolific
numbers this spring in West Virginia.
State plant and pest biologist Berry Crutchfield says there could be
an explosion of the caterpillar population this year. He says the
caterpillar population peaks every eight to ten years.
Crutchfield says the damage done by caterpillars is cosmetic. While
the insects like to munch on tree leaves, they almost never kill the
trees. He says many trees defoliated by caterpillars will recover by
midsummer.
Tent caterpillars prefer flowering fruit trees such as wild black cherry,
crabapple and hawthorn.
Crutchfield says one way to control the caterpillars is to prune the
eggs off the tips of trees before they hatch. | 
